New tests show the globe-trotting American lawyer who caused an international health scare by traveling with what was diagnosed as a dangerous form of tuberculosis has a less severe form of the disease, doctors said.
The dramatic announcement on Tuesday from physicians treating Andrew Speaker raised questions about the accuracy of the diagnosis by US government health officials who had ordered Speaker quarantined in May.
But the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stood by its earlier test and its action to isolate Speaker. And both Speaker's doctor in Denver and an official with the CDC who appeared at a news conference said the public health response should be the same for both forms of drug-resistant TB.
"The public health actions that CDC took in this case, and are continuing to take, are sound and appropriate," said the CDC's Dr. Mitchell Cohen.
For the patient himself, the news that he apparently has a more treatable form of TB means he may avoid surgery and has a much better chance for a cure.
"These new test results are good news for Mr. Speaker. His prognosis has improved," said Dr. Charles Daley, who is treating Speaker at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center.
"We now have more effective medications available to fight his disease and may be able to treat him successfully without surgery," he said.
It was also good news for any airline passengers who might have caught TB from Speaker while on one of his trans-Atlantic flights in May. The new diagnosis means their TB also stands a better chance of being treated, Daley said. Cohen said the CDC won't know until late July or August whether anyone may have contracted the disease from the 31-year-old Atlanta lawyer.
In a statement, Speaker said he was relieved by the diagnosis.
However, he also gave a harsh critique of the government's handling of the case.
"In the future I hope they realize the terribly chilling effect they can have when they come after someone and their family on a personal level. They can, in a few days, destroy an entire family's reputation, ability to make a living and good name," he said.
In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday night, Speaker said he believed the CDC needed to apologize.
"I think they owe apologies to the people that they scared," he said. "They scared, you know, millions of people around the world."
Speaker was diagnosed with extensively drug-resistant TB, in May. The XDR-TB, as it is called, is rare, extremely difficult to treat and is a growing public health threat.
But later tests in Denver indicate Speaker's TB is a slightly more treatable form of the disease, multidrug-resistant TB, which can be treated with some antibiotics that the more severe form resists.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS